Electric cable.



F. R. MQBERTY.

ELECTRIC CABLE. APPL'IOATION FILED FEB.27, 1908 1,054,784. v Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

P. R. MQBERTY.

ELECTRIC CABLE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.27, 190s,

Patented Mar. 4, 19-13.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE...

FRANK R. MGBERTY, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, 'ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELEC- TRIO COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

ELECTRIC CABLE.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

trated and described in my application Serial No. 418,122, filed February 27th, 1908, and adaptedfor the same sort of'use as is set forth in the said companion application.

The invention of the present application is particularly directed towardthe provision of a cable of simple construction which may be manufactured at a small cost, which may be formed for connection with the terminals which it is adapted, to unite without indi- 'vidual manipulation of its wires, and which will have the minimum of bulk fora given wire capacity, in order that the terminals may be connected without being obstructed in any way by the connecting cable.

In the im roved form of cable to which my present invention relates; these results are secured by interweaving the electrical conductors and the insulating material of which thecable is composed, so that the. conductors are held together and at the same time insulated from each other and from surrounding objects by means of interwoven insulating material.

In the form in which I prefer to practice my invention the wires or conductors fornr the warp of the woven cable, while the woof is formed of insulating material.- The cable is preferably woven" in the form of a flat band or ribbon having the conductors arranged in a layer extending longitudinally of the ribbon, while the insulating thread is interwoven with the conductors transversely of the ribbon. In theprocess of weaving this flat or ribbon cable, the insulating woof is Y discontinued or separated at intervals along the cable so that spaces are formed where the wifes are bare andexposed for connection with the terminals which they are adapted to unite In forming the cable for connection with the associated terminals, it may be folded upon itself along these lines of discontinued insulation in order to form terminal projections on the bare portions of the wires. The thinness of this ribbon cable of my invention the' cable being only as thick as the. diameter of a single one of its wires plus the thickness of two insulating threads-particularly adapts it for use in association svith closely spaced rows of terminals, such, for instance, as areemployed in automatic switches for connecting telephone lines, as it is possible to locate-fthe cable in the slight space separating adjacent rows so that it is entirely within the plane of the outer ends of the terminals, or in other words, to the rear of said outer ends of the terminals- I will describe my invention more particularly by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a length of cable embodying my invention; Fig. 2, an enlarged cross section of the cable on line 22 of Fig. 3'; Fig. 3, the cable shown in Fig. 1 with the sections of the cable on opposite sides of the lines of discontinued insulation opened out: Fig. l, the cable folded upon itself along the exposed lines and at intermediatepoints to adapt it for connection with. rows of terminals; Fig. 5, a side view of two groups of terminals'connected together by woven cables in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 6, a top or plan view of the connected groups of terminals illustrated in Fig. 5.

In describing my invention by reference to the drawings, I shall employ the same reference characters to designate the same parts in the difierent figures.

The cable a of my invention in the form in which I prefer to employ it, consistsof a. ribbon of wiresor conductors I) held to-, gether and .at the same time insulated from each other and from external objects by means of'insulaTting thread 0 woven about the conductors. The ribbon cable may be. woven in a loom, the wires b forming the warpof the .woven fabric and the insulating thread 0 the woof of the fabric. The wires b. may be of any suitable conducting-material and dimensions. I have found it convenient in some cases to employ No.28 gage tinnedcopper wires for the conductors of the cable. The insulating Woof may also be of any suitable material and dimensions. I

have found that No. 40 mercerized cotton their length in order that they may be exposed and made accessible for connection with the terminals to which they are'adapted to be joined. lhese exposed spaces are illustrated at d in the drawings, and are preferv "ably distributed along a line oblique to the length of the cable in order that the bared portionsof the wires may correspond in position with the positionot' the termihals with which the cable is to be connectedrThe angle which the line of omitted insulation forms with the long dimension or" the cable depends upon the relation of the width of the cable to the length. of the row of terminals to which it is to be connected. it

the length of the row is equal to the width of the cable, the line of discontinued insulation will extend straight across the cable at right angles to its length. Ast-he ratio at the, point-s d in any convenient manner;

but the manner in which it prefer to accomplish this is by omitting or discontinuing the insulation from the wires at these points 'in the process of weaving the cable. This may be done, where the line oli omitted insulation extends diagonally across the cable, by employing a two shuttle" Jacquard loom, and operating this loom so as to cause the shuttle on one side to carry the threads across an intermittentl increasin number of the wires which constitute the warp of the fabric, and at'the same time causing the other shuttle to carrywits threads across a correspondingly decreasing number oithe wires of the ribbon. ()ne wire between the shuttles is left free from the insulating thread, and in the pro. gressive alteration of the scope of the movementof the shuttles the insulating covering is omitted from each or the wires of the cable in turn. If desired, the loom may be operated so that all the wires of the ribbon tleand th'at woven bythe other, thus sepa-l are at all times included inthe woof woven by one or the other of the shuttles. lin this case no bare portions are left inthe fabric as-it comes from the 100m, but the wires are bared thereatter-in the process of forming the cable for connectionby pushing back the woof on both sides of the dividing line between the portion woven by one shutrating the two portions and leaving an exposed line between. Or,- if desired, the fabric may beso woven that portions are left bare, on one wire after another, while between the bare portions both shuttles carry their threads across the entire width of the ribbon, thus binding the two portions ofthe weaves woof together, and preventing the bare portions from being closed up by the spreading of the threads. The methodot weaving the cable of. my invention and of baring the wires at intervals to expose them for con n'ection, however, I am reserving for another application.

in 'iorining the woven cable of my invention for connection with the terminals that it is-adapted to unite, I am enabled to bring .outbare portions of the wires for being joined to the terminals. without requiring an individual manipulation of the wires. The method of forming the cable which ll prefer to employ consists in displacing the two sections of the cable on opposite sides of the line of omitted insulation Z, by pushing forward one of the sections relatively to the other-and in the same plane, so asto bend the exposed portions of all the wires at an angleto their normal direction, and substantially at right angles to the line of the exposed portions. This operation not only opens out the cable for connection, but also forces back the insulating woof and holds it in place at the 'ends of the bare portions, as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The next operation in the forming process, which consists in folding the cable upon itself along the exposed line (if, changes the term of thecabie Q to that whiclris illustrated in Fig. 4: ot-the drawings. This treatment, as the drawings show, produces terminal projections on each or the wires of the cable, y means of which the cable wires may be joined to the apparatus which they are adapted to connect.

In Figs. 5 and 6 l have, illustrated the manner in which the woven cable of my invention may\ be employed for connecting electrical terminals which are mounted in groups and in very close relation to each other. I have here illustrated two groupsot terminals 6 and f, respectively, ,1 each group comprising six rows foftermi'nals thirty to the row. Each cable is connected to corresponding rows of terminals in the two groups, and may be extended to corresponding rows of terminals in other groupsnot shown, each terminal to which a conductor f the cable is connected being adapted to of that conducton Each cable extends to one side of the row ofterminals it is adapted to serve, is tolded'over the top ofthe row along the line of omitted insulation, and the. exposed portions of the conductors soldered to the correspondingterminalsythe cable leaving along the other side of the row of terminals. lt'is customary, 1n the type of automatic switches for connecting telephone lines with which, as hereinbefore stated, my improved cable is particularly adapted to be used, for the terminals to project through At the left in their insulating support. Fig. 5 l have shown only twopfthe tefini ave completed through it a branch circuit nals of the group 12 as so projecting through their insulating support. To illustrate the manner in which such terminals become part of a branch circuit, I have shown in diagram a portion of an operators cord circuit havtermediate with the groups of terminals, 6

and f, each of the cables has a fold gor, if necessary, more than one fold-so as to bring the edge of the 'fold along the exposed line (Z at the next group of terminals into line with the tops of the terminals in the row with which. it is to be connected. Each of the rows of terminals in the two grou s is connected in the same manner to one o the flat cables that joins corresponding rows of the groups, the cable in each case lying between adjacent rows of terminals in the group and entirely within the plane of the outer extremities of the terminals, so that the terminals are left unobstructed by the cables, and the cables are held in-position {and protected from .injury.' The extreme 1 thinness of the woven cable of my invention renders it capable of being used in this manner to connect apparatus in which the terminals are mounted very close together, and

at the same time enables it to accomplish this without interfering with the accessibility of the connect-ion between the cable and terminal after the wiringis completed.

1. A multi-conductor cable consisting of a woven ribbon of wires and insulating threads, with the wires forming the warp and the threads the woof of the ribbon inclosing and insulating the wires, the woof being separated at intervals along each wire to expose the same for connection.

2. A multi-conductor cable consisting of a woven ribbon of wires and insulating thread in which the wires form the warp and the thread the woof of the ribbon inclosing and insulating the wires, the insulating woof being discontinued for short spaces at intervals along theribbon to expose the wires for connection.

3. A woven cable in the form of a ribbon in which a plurality of conductors constitute the warp and insulating material the woof of the ribbon, said insulating woof being discontinued at intervals along theribbon on lines oblique to the length of the ribbon to expose the conductors for .connection.

4;. A woven multi-conductor cable in the form of a flat ribbon in which the conductors form the warp and insulating thread the woof of the ribbon; saidinsulating woof being omitted at intervals along the ribbon on lines oblique to the length of the ribbon, and the ribbon being folded upon itself on the lines of omitted insulation to form terminal projections on the exposedportions of the form of a ribbon in which the conductors form the warp and insulating thread the woof of the ribbon, said insulating woof being omitted at intervals along the ribbon on lines oblique to the length of the ribbon, the portions of the ribbon on opposite sides of said lines being displaced with relation to each other to bend the exposed portionsof the wires at an angle to their normal direction, and the ribbon being folded upon itself on the lines of omitted insulation to form terminal projections on the exposed portions of the wires. 4

7. In a multiple cabling system, the combination with groups of terminals arranged in closelyspaced rows, of flat woven cables connecting corresponding rows in each group, said cables lying between the rows of terminals and being folded over the associated row in each group to bring the wires of the cable into positionto be connected with the corresponding terminals.

8. A multi-conductor cable consisting of a woven ribbon of wires and insulating threads, the wires lying parallel in the same plane and spaced slightly apart from one another, and the threads forming the woof of the ribbon and lying closely adjacent to j 7 one another and arranged to completely v cover the wires except at intervals along each wire, the orderly arrangement of the weave being altered at'such intervals to expose the wires for connection.

9. The combination with a branch circuit of a woven multi-conductor having an insulating woof and a warp formed of individual conductors, saidconductors having exposed portions at intervals for connecting the branch circuit with the mult-i-conductor.

10. A multi-conductor 'cable consisting of a woven ribbon of wires and insulating threads, with the wires forming the warp and the threads the woof of the ribbon, the warp conductors being separated at inter- .vals along their length from the woof to expose the warp conductors fcfi' c dnfiectibn.

' FRANK R. MoBERTY.

Witnesses:

NIoHoLAs E. KERNAN, WILLIAM G. MCKNIGHT. 

